Process of knitting.



E. E. KILBOURN.

PROCESS OF KNITTING.

APPLICATION FILED Mum, 1910.

963,227. Patented July 5, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W/TNES [NVE/VTOR zm" 6W g. mrmfl 2, (2) M By E. E. KILBOURN.

PROGESS 0s KNITTING.

$PPLIOATIOH FILED MAR. 21, 1910. 1

963,27. Patnted July 5,1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' Twig E. E. KILBOURN.

PROCESS OF KNITTING.

APPLICATION TILED MAR. 21. 1910.

Patented July 5, 1910.

a 8HEETS-SHEET a.

EDWARD E. KILBOURN, or

NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO KILBOURN MANUFACTURING- CORPORATION, OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY.

- rnoc'nss or KNITTING.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 5, 19M).-

' Application-filed March 21, 1910. Serial No. 550,736.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. KILBOURN, citizen of the United States, residing at New Brunswick, inthe county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rrocesses of Knitting; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the. art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described reference being bad to the accompanying drawings whichillustrate the manner in which my process or method is carried out, and the invention is fully disclosed in the following descrip tion and claims.

In the manufacture of circular knitted half hose, and other circular knitted goods in which a ribbed portion is united with other portions of fabric'knit in plain stitch or any stitch othei than rib, work, it is customary to knit the rib portions or tops 'or cuffs as they, are variously termed, either singly or in a continuous strip which is severed into fildlifldllal tops or cuffs; to run on one course of the rib work upon the neening on of the cufi' or top, as it gives the dies of a circular knitting machine; to ravel back the lower edge portion of the call or top until the course upon the needles is reached, and to knit With the machine .into and from such transfer course, thus uniting the cuff or top directly to the body of the fabric. It is customary to provide these cuffs or tops with a selvage welt or welts at its outer end and with a course of loosely knit stitches adjacent to the other end to facilitate their being run on to a transfer ring, by which they can'be transferred to the needles of aknitting machine, or directly upon the needles of the machine. It is usual to continue the knitting of the cuff or top for a considerable distance beyond the loose course of stitches, to form a marginalportion which facilitates the runoperator something to' tak'e hold of (where ,the operation is performed by hand) and prevents the undue stretching of the transfer course of stitches. This marginal portion is afterw ard raveled back as' before stated to the .loose course 'or transfer course, and the yarn so used is wastedlk In carrying out my improved process of knitting, Lfirst knit the ribbed top,'with the usual selvage welt or welts at one end,

. and a transfer course adjacent to the outer end, preferably a loose course of stitches and below thetransfer course, I knit a very short marginal portion, in which I form an extra welt, which is used in transferring the rib top onto atransfer ring or the needles of the knitting machine, and is then reveled out, and does not appear in the stocking as hereinafter more fully explained.

Referring tothe accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a view of a rib top or cuff provided with the extra welt. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view representing the manner in which the extra welt assists in running the top or cuff onto the needles of a knitting machine by hand. Fig. 8 is a similar view, illustrating the manner in which the extra welt assists in running the top or end on to the quills of a transfer ring. Figs. 4:, 5 and (5 are diagrammatic views illustrating the manner in which the extra welt cocperates with the parts of a transferring machine, in positioning the culf, and insuring the accurate transfer of all the stitches of the loose or transfer course. Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the rib.

top, and portions of the transferring n1achine. Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view sho \ving the reinforcing action of the extra welt, when the alternate stitches of the transfer course are expanded and hel on the trans fer levers of the transferring machine. Fig. 9 is a detail plan view of parteof a transfer ring which is employed in the transferring machine. a

In carrying out my improved process I first knit a rib top or cuff (which may be formed singly or in a continuous fabric), one of which is illustrated in Fig. 1. The cuff or top A is provided at one end with the usual selvage welt a (or any desired number of welts as indicated at a in dotted lines), and adjacent to the other end I provide a transfer course a which is preferably a course of loose stitches. Beyond the transfer course, and between it and the end of the cuff or top (or the line of cut indicated by dotted line a where the cuff ortop is to be severed from the nextadjacent cuff or top), I knit an extra or positioning welt a Which is located .at a definite number of i 30 lmittin machine is,started and knits the e co stoo Q3 7 scans? Courses beyond the transfer course, and=in that part of thecufi'ortop which is to be reveled out, and which'for convenience I desi ate thev raveling margin. This rave ing margin is made of a less number of courses than is usual where the eiitra welt a is not employed, and there is therefore considerably less waste of material in raveling the same. Where the transferr' operation is to be performed by hand as il lhstrated in Figs; 2 and 3, either in connection with the needles B of the lmitting machine directly, (Fig. 2) or in connection with the quills or points 0, 5 of atransferring C, (Fig; 35 the extra or positioning welt a will a or the 0 erator a raised surface, easily en aged by t e nail of thumb or fingers, to -enagle the outer margin of the. cuff or top to be securely held, and will also assist the operator in running on the transfer course, as the..welta is .throughout a definite distance from the course to be transferred. After the top or cufi has been transferred to the needles B of the knitt' machine, either directly or by the use of lhe transfer ring the marginal portion includin the extra .or positioning welt a is ravele out, until the transfer course is reached, when the course, as clearly shown in Fi 7. The mandrel is also provided. with a %rush por'-' tion (i represent a circular series of longitudinal register-in bits, which lie in the grooves between a jacent wales of the 70 fabric and guide the same to keep it from twisting. These bits E, are moved into engagement with the extra or positioning welt a (see'Figs. 4 and 7) in the operation of the transfer machine, thus pushing the 7 stitches of theloose course a into an exact and predetermined relationwith the points of the transfer levers: F and damping the fabric between the bits E, E and the'projeetions 03 of the mandrel so that the points of 0 the transfer levers may enter between the bits E, E and pass down through the alternate stitches of the transfer course and into the recesses 03 in the mandrel ring D (see Figs. 5 and 7). The transfer levers are 85 then 0 erated as indicated in Fig. 6 to exand .t e web, and bring the stitches of the oose course in position ,to be placed upon the points of a transfer ring 0; and in this figure it will be seen how the positioning 99 welt a takes the strain of the transfer levers upon its selvage edge, and prevents the urn due stretching, or the possibility of 'ra'veling, of the loose course! Fig. 8 also illustrates the manner in which the extra welt acts in conjunction with the transfer levers. In this figure the points of the transfer levers are illustrated at f, and engage the alternate stitches a, the strain 5 on the fabric bein communicated to the ex-i 1m; tra welt a. It-wi 1 also be seen by-reference to this figure that the extra welt acts to sup port the intermediate and alternate stitches a not engaged'by the'transfer levers, and holds them in a definite relation with the 05 stitches a? so that all the stitches of the transfer course can be accurately and siinul: taneously placed on the points 0', a of the transfer ring 0, which (as shown inFi'g. 9) has alternating points c" in one circle to 10 receive'the stitches a, and the intermediate points 0? in a circle of sl'ghtly less diameter, to receive the stitches a. The top or cufi is transferred from the ring Cto acircular knitting inachine,.the marginal portion in- 115 body 0 the fabric upon' the top or end.

vWhere the rib top or cufl is run on or I transferred by means of a transferring machine, the guidingand positioning devices thereof, usually termed registering bits? are made to engage the extra posltioni welt, andthus draw the cuff or top into suc position that the stitches of the transfer course will be taken b the transfer levers, 40 and when the transfer evers are opened out to expand the web, and aline the stitches of the transfer course with the oints of a transfer ring (or the needles 0 a knitting machine,) the extra welta will prevent the undue stretching'of the transfer. course, "as the edge of the welt toward the transfer course of stitches is in the nature of a selvage, and the fabric cannot be raveled from that direction. InFigs. 4 to 9 inclusive, I have selected for purposes of illustration 9. transferrin a machine such as is illustrated, described and claimed in the application of E. E. Kilbourn, Wm. E. Smith and I. W. Kilbourn, lie-filed in the U. S. Patent Office Jan. 29, 1909, Serial No. 474,953. As this-machine'forms no part of my present invention, I will only refer in deta1l',to such parts of it as are necessai to enable my invention to be under: Thus, D represents the, mandrel of the toppin or transferring machine, which is provide with a metal ring cl having a plurality of slits or. apertures dtherein, forming a series of pro ectionsdfi which lie beneath the alternate stitches of the transfer ravele out, and the bodyof the fabric is knit into and from the transfer'course a as previously described. In knitting the rib top or cuff, it'is preferable to have the jog in the loose course of stitches (indicated at a, Fig. 1) at a different point inthe circle of the fabric from the jog in the extra or. positioning welt (indicated at a).

What I claim andd'esire to, secure by Lettrs Patent is.' I l. The herein described process of knitting articles provided with a rib top or cuff .wliich, consists informing a rib to or cu I having a selvageedg atone en and e cluding the extra or positioning welt is,

I transfer course ad acent to the other end,

and knitting a positioning, welt saidtop or cuff at a predetermined-d1 p I stance from the transfer course and'on the side of the same opposite the selvage edge, transferring the transfer courseby means of said positioning welt, to the needles of 'ar knitting machine, raveling out] the original portion of said cufl or top and said positioning welt, back tin to the transfer course, andknittingthe body of the fabric into and from said transfer course.

2. The herein described process of knitan article provided with 'a rib top or cu which cons1sts in forming a rib top or cuff, having a selvage edge at one end and a transfer course 'adjaccnt to the other end, and knitting thereon a'positioning welt at a predetermined distance from the? transfer course on the side thereof op osite to the 1 selvage edge,.engaging the san' positioning welt and drawing the fabric into position to ing Welt, and knitting the body of the fabric into and from said transfer course.

3. The herein described process of knitting article's provided with a rib top or cufl",

which consists in forming a rib top or cuff,

knitting thereon a marginal portion below the transfer course, and knitting in said marginal portion a positioning welt at a predetermined distance from the transfer course, engaging the said positioning welt and drawing the top or cuff into position to permit alternate stitches of the transfer course to be engaged, and holding the top or cufi' in that position, engaging the alternate stitches of the transfer course, and expanding the transfer course, against theypbsitioning welt, said welt acting to hold in position the intermediate alternate stitches, transferring all the stitches of the transfer course to a knitting machine, ravelin out the marginal portion of the top orcufi and said pos tioning welt, and knitting the body of the fabric into andfrom said'transfer course. 4 In testimony whereof 'I affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

v EDWARD E. KILBOURN. Witnesses: I

- SAM F. WUBI,

JOHN ERIUKSON. 

